Deaths come in clusters. In the past couple weeks we have lost Treat Williams, Frederic Forrest (Valley Girl!), and now Alan Arkin.
A constant theme in my life: My adventures with afternoon television where I watched whatever the hell was on, because there were only three channels – well, four if you count PBS which of course I do, and the old movies played in constant rotation, with no rhyme or reason to the programming. I saw everything. And then my high school boyfriend introduced me to The Marx Brothers and WC Fields, and also film noir, and so I pieced together, by osmosis, the history of the fascinating artform. All on my own. Just soaking up what was in the air.
I was 11, 12, and I saw The Russians are Coming The Russians are Coming, and I fell in LOVE with it, the chaos and shenanigans (I grew up in the tail-end of the Cold War. I was steeped in Russian paranoia/terror without even thinking about it). But mostly I crushed hard on Alan Arkin. There is nothing like a crush when you’re 11. At some point I segued from peers to grown men. Which makes sense, puberty being what it is. There was Lance Kerwin … the first … and then there was James Dean and Al Pacino (almost simultaneously, and these two were more about their acting chops than anything crush-y, although crush-feelings also came into it) and Ralph Macchio … … and then came Harrison Ford in Empire, the game-changer, the real puberty kicking in. Within those years where crushes proliferated, I saw The Russians are Coming, and Alan Arkin – in that movie only – I saw nothing else he did – loomed large.
I have had a long life enjoying Alan Arkin’s performances. I was always happy when he showed up in something, and he always delivered. I am happy he worked up until the end, with great integrity and authenticity.
But first, there was the impact he made when I was a kid-on-the-verge-of-puberty: the way he stood in that movie, the way he RAN that movie, with hilarity and confidence, his whole outfit, the hat, the jacket … it all tapped into something in my soul, and I am trying to put it into words. It was so long ago but I remember it vividly, and it is not an isolated incident. It happened with others. Jack Wild in Oliver! All the boys in The Outsiders. Even James Dean in East of Eden. My “way in” – the acting bug, to the love of movies, to my own desires/fantasies as a small human – was through the boys. Julie Harris was great in East of Eden, but I didn’t project myself onto her, I didn’t “see myself” in her. I didn’t question this. It was all completely organic. When I watched Alan Arkin in The Russians are Coming, I felt a weird strong yearning, and if I had to put it into words, I’d say what I was feeling was sort of a self-projection, a wish-fulfillment, a desire to merge. Not sexually but psychologically. I didn’t want to marry him or kiss him. I didn’t want to be his sidekick or his love interest. I wanted to BE him. There’s a huge difference, and this might be worth writing more about. As I say, this happened a lot with me and male stars when I was a kid, and it was all very unspoken and organic, a natural thing for me, a miasma of feelings, all very pleasurable. Like, I couldn’t wait to dress like Alan Arkin in The Russians are Coming, and, if you knew me in my 20s, you know I did …
So when I heard the news, it’s The Russians are Coming I thought of. Because there’s nothing more powerful than a first impression. It lasts a lifetime.
EMERGENCY. EVERYBODY TO GET FROM STREET.
classic!!
Sheila I’ve had to take almost 6 months “off” being online in any meaningful sense but things are settling down and I’ve popped back in and saw this lovely missive from your childhood – I love it because my earliest encounter with Arkin (that I can remember) was Grosse Point Blank, which was a catalyst for my John Cusak crush. Arkin pitches his scene so perfectly, he has such a masterful grasp of tone. I watched The In-Laws for the first time last night and that scene where they’re turning in circles around and around on the highway and Arkin just says, “Again?” – gotta be a contender for greatest delivery of a single word ever filmed.
(Of course, I was also delighted by and must mention the inevitable Supernatural connection – Richard Libertini (General Garcia), who was so wonderful as Barry Bostwick’s magician friend in the Criss Angel Is A Douchebag episode)
I’m looking forward to catching up with your recent writing!
Jessie!! I am thrilled to see you here again. I hope you are well, life being the crazy thing that it is! But it’s always good to hear from you.
Grosse Point Blank!! Yes! The In-Laws is classic. I really love him as he got older and super cranky – the high point is probably Little Miss Sunshine – but I am partial to Slums of Beverly Hills. I love him as a dad.
// who was so wonderful as Barry Bostwick’s magician friend in the Criss Angel Is A Douchebag episode //
oh my God!! lol There is a Supernatural gif for everything and there is a Supernatural connection with every important cultural figure. It’s Kevin Bacon – only it only takes about two jumps to get from one to the other, not six.
I enjoyed many of Arkin’s performances, but I always want to draw attention to 13 Conversations About One Thing, my pick for best movie of the Aughts. His performance was such an unusual combination of conflicting traits: decency, resentment, melancholy, and a barely-hanging-on trace of hopefulness. (At the other end of the spectrum, his performance in Wait Until Dark is one the scariest I’ve seen.) I hope I get the chance to see a lot more of his work.
Wait Until Dark is terrifying – I caught it at random when I was like 15 and I almost wished I hadn’t watched it, I was so freaked out by it.
Ahem. Cough cough re: 13 Conversations and Arkin lol.
That’s probably my favorite performance of Arkin, although Glengarry Glen Ross is close. “Are we talking about actually stealing the leads, or just talking about it?”
Everyone in Glengarry Glen Ross gives my favorite performance of theirs now that I think about it, generally speaking. I suppose Michael Corleone is a better acted part than Ricky Roma, but are we positive about that?